Different Types of Pianos and Their Uses

Summary

Learning the piano requires you to know a few things, including the different variations of the instrument there are – and while it may seem a bit daunting at first, it’s actually really easy to learn the basic types of pianos that you have available.

If you’re currently searching for a piano for yourself – whether it’s a new or used one – it’s definitely worth checking out what’s available to you and find out a little bit about the different approaches to the design of a piano, so that you’ll be able to make the best choice for yourself. There are many people out there who find it very important that their pianos adhere to certain features such as a particular shape and size, especially those who live in somewhat limited space. When you consider pianos by their shape, horizontal and vertical ones are the two basic categories you can go with.

Upright piano

This refers to the arrangement of the piano’s soundboard – it can be either parallel to the floor, as is the case with horizontal pianos, which are also known as grand pianos, or perpendicular to it, which is the basic design feature of vertical pianos. Grand pianos tend to take up quite a bit of space, though they compensate for that by having full, lush sounds and a great dynamic range. There are several subcategories among horizontal pianos to consider, such as the Petite Grand, which is the smallest horizontal piano design, and it’s typically only 4-5 feet long, but it still offers quite the good music quality. Baby Grand pianos tend to be the most popular pianos among fine household models, and they tend to be around 1-2 feet longer than Petite Grand models. Baby Grand pianos can offer you a fantastic sound that doesn’t require them to take up the whole room.

Next we have the Concert Grand, which is more or less the most popular type of horizontal piano in general – it’s considered to be the best in terms of tone, key response and action, and it takes up quite a lot of space too – 9 feet long isn’t unusual. It’s the most commonly used model for professional music production (like symphonies and operas). There are many other sizes to consider, like Medium Grand, Parlor Grand and Ballroom Grand, and they all have their specific characteristics.

Concert grand piano

In home environments though, vertical pianos tend to be the most popular designs for various reasons. The soundboard is arranged vertically, so the piano doesn’t take up so much space and also doesn’t require as much material for its manufacture. These pianos can be split up into four categories – first we have Spinet pianos, spanning 36-38 inches in height and around 60 in width, those are the smallest vertical pianos. This is the perfect type of piano for smaller living conditions, though it tends to be a bit less accurate in its sounds because of its size. You can also go with a Console piano, which is a bit taller while maintaining the same width; these are typically made to go along with the interior design of the home, so they tend to be custom-made into a variety of designs. Studio pianos are the most commonly found type of vertical piano in schools around the world, due to its balance of a large soundboard and vertical design. The tallest vertical piano available is the Upright piano, which can be 50-60 inches tall.

Examine and explore all those options to see which one fits your preferences best before settling with anything, and you’ll get the most from your playing experience later on!